I think it's more due to the shampooing, blow drying, pre-show prepping. Some of them might even take special care that the dog doesn't play in the dirt too much, and stuff like that.
I did see a "retired show dog" the other day, and it looked alright, but nothing spectacular.

 

Exactly what 3Musketeers said

I know a lady who competes in high levels with her Aussie Shepherd and he has a WONDERFUL coat, always so soft and smells beautiful. Due to the fact that she owns a grooming salon. She feeds her dog whatever she wins most of the time, as money is hard especially when your spending over $1500 to get to a show, flying, accomodation etc

 

No I don't think a lot of them do. I know some who feed absolute garbage. Some show dogs literally live in kennels to prevent less hair matting/breaking/etc. or if they have lots of dogs. But they are groomed frequently and the products used can make a coat look nicer than it is.

 

Watch what a boxer goes through before a show! They use coloring and chalk to accent the black and white on their coat.
YouTube - ‪Grooming the Boxer‬‏

 

What do they need to trim for? A boxer has a very VERY short coat to begin with!

ETA: I think most show dog owners feed what is advertised at dog shows, Puke-anuba. :fear:

 

I know a select few (my aunt is one of them, she shows Siberian Huskies- and some members here) but it seems like a lot of them still feed average kibbles like ProPlan & Eukanuba. :\

 

I only know of a few dogs that are fed raw that are champions... one being a champ gsd and they always try to advertise it at shows and stuff Most give garbage unfortunately which makes people think oh hey that dog is a champ and it eats purina pro-plan!!! $$

 

All of the good trainers in my area feed raw, whether they train for agility, tracking, SAR, etc. I'm not so sure about show dogs, however. I imagine it's difficult to find a handler who is willing to feed raw while the dog is on the road (which can be several months). The few owners and handlers I've met commented on how fit Mia is and were intrigued when I told them that I feed raw. Apparently, there are a lot of underweight kibble-fed Standard Poodles out there.

 

It's disgusting what those dogs get fed and what some of them have to go through as a "show dog"

 

I'd say the majority eat Eukanuba or Purina of some variety. Those brands also sponsor some big shows...


There are people who feed premium kibble and raw though. But it is tough to feed raw on the road and with multiple dogs.

 

My dog gets raw.

:3

 

*drool*

You don't breed do you?

 

Lol, the first show I did was the Philly cluster shows, aka the one sponsored by Purina, the one played on Thanksgiving day each year.

Purina had a table with hundreds and hundreds of sample bags. My friend was like "go grab a few sample bags!!!" and i was like "...what??? why???" (she feeds pretty good kibble, one of the premium brands). She was like "It's for Flower!". Their pet skunk lol.

 

You live in Canada, Kittykat? If your whippet goes missing, it SO wasn't me. *innocent look*

 

OMG!! I love whippets I hope to own one in the future.



LOL in the last show they gave me a bag of eukanuba giant breed puppy for my toy poodle this shows how mush they know about dogs :yuck:

And a few small bags of propac small dog and lamb kibbles at least this one is decent.


I fed Pompadour like 65% raw and the rest kibble (kirkland)

I can tell that handlers and judges say they are impressed with his coat and he still is shedding his puppy coat

 

Very nice looking show dogs. I just love dog shows, I think they should have more on TV.